Decades old diners often pride themselves as where your fathers ate, Werner’s can pride itself as where your grandfather ate. Werner’s Restaurant, located on E. Redwood street between Calvert and South streets has been a staple of the Financial District in Baltimore, where Redwood street was referred to as “The Wall Street of the South.” Operating since 1950, it was originally opened by the Kloetzi family who immigrated here from Switzerland. The Vickers Building where Werner’s is located was built in 1904, and sits across from the Mercantile Safe Deposit and Trust Building which itself was built in 1886. Werner’s is open for breakfast and lunch on Mondays through Friday from 7am to 2pm.

Rib Eye steak sandwich $9 (comes with 2 vegetables)

The Rib Eye steak sandwich with the bun facing upwards. (The bun was excellent)

Even though the average meal with entrée, sides and drink usually only comes out to about $10, it still remains a popular lunch spot among lawyers, financial-types, politicians, construction workers and tourists. You may have noticed it before in The Wire, where Mayor Carcetti and many other politicians and police officers meet. Even though the glitzy Inner Harbor and even glitzier Harbor East, attracts office workers for lunch, Werner’s still stays strong and I hope it operates for another fifty years.

This ornate building is located on Fayette street between Howard and Eutaw streets

The Central Business District from Fayette and Howard Streets
The Western National Bank

The Bromo Seltzer Tower

This former bank is located on the corner of Eutaw and Fayette streets

The “Bedrock” bar is located across the street from the Abell Building on Eutaw and W. Baltimore streets
This cast-iron fronted building on 307 W. Baltimore street is located across from Hippodrome Hatters, a purveyor of mens hats since 1930

This building is located next to the cast iron building on 307 W. Baltimore street

The Abell Building located on Eutaw and W. Baltimore Streets

Another shot of the Abell Building

Another shot of the Abell Building which will be converted into housing

For a long time up until the 1960’s/1970’s, Howard and Eutaw streets were the main retail and entertainment districts of Baltimore. Filled to the brim with 3 department stores (Hutzlers, Stewart’s, and Brager-Gutman’s), 3 major theatres (the Mayfair, the Maryland (connected to Congress/Kernan Hotel) and the Hippodrome), it attracted travellers from around the country to its glories. Suburbanization and white/wealth flight pulled away its most valuable customers and the stores followed suit into the suburbs. For about 30/40 years, the stores have either layed empty or with low-end stores catering to a lower-income clientele. However, the City of Baltimore as well as the Baltimore Development Corporation and a gaggle of investors are re-investing in the area to create a revitalization similar to that of the Inner Harbor and HarborEast. They hope that pushing out the lower-end stores and rehabbing the storefronts as well as adding new buildings (condominiums, apartments, etc.) will breath new air into the area and revitalize it. However, only time will tell.

On Friday, I scanned quite a few (63 to be exact) pages of the following books on Baltimore History: part two, part three

Baltimore: A Picture History by Francis F. Beirne and Carleton Jones
Baltimore: Charm City by Dan Rodricks and Roger Miller
Greetings from Baltimore: Postcard Views of the City by Bert Smith
Baltimore Transitions by Mark Miller
Lost Baltimore: A Portfolio of Vanished Buildings by Carleton Jones
Baltimore: When She Was What She Used to Be by Marion Warren and Mame Warren
A Guide to Baltimore Architecture by John Dorsey and James D. Dilts

These scans are not designed to copy the book for free usage online but to further enlighten Baltimoreans and non-Baltimoreans on the greatness of our city, in its past and present.